ORLANDO (FBW)—Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel in Orlando believes that a citizen's vote is akin to a "talent" left in the hands of servants when their master went on a journey, according to Jesus' parable in Matthew 25. Like the servants who received portions of their master's wealth to manage, Christians will one day have to answer for how they used their votes, he said.

"Did you have an opportunity to save an unborn child, to strengthen marriage or to protect families—and did not vote?" Staver asked. "I believe we will be accountable to God for that."

Likewise, a pastor has a God-ordained responsibility to preach biblical responses to the issues of the day, including abortion and marriage. In an interview, Staver told Florida Baptist Witness pulpits should be where "the flames of righteousness prevail and shine brightly."

"Just because an issue is being debated politically does not mean it is a political issue," Staver said. "A pastor can always preach on issues."

Although some liberal organizations would like to "muzzle" pastors and churches by threatening their tax-exempt status, churches have very little to fear from the Internal Revenue Service, he said.

"From 1934 to the present, no church has ever lost its tax-exempt status or IRS ruling for engaging in too much lobbying," he said.

To illustrate his point, Staver cited an IRS ruling that allows a tax-exempt organization to spend five percent of its total activity on lobbying. If a church is open only three hours on Sunday and one and a half hours on Wednesday, it could spend 13 1Ú2 minutes every week on lobbying. The allowance is cumulative, so that if a week goes by with no lobbying, 27 minutes is allowed the following week.

"Thus, every Sunday this church could urge its congregation to contact their senators and representatives to vote in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment, or any other local, state or national law, including state and federal constitutional amendments," Staver wrote in "Pastors, Churches and Politics" on www.lc.org.

Churches are allowed many more privileges in the public policy arena that most take advantage of. Churches are free to hold voter registration drives and distribute objectively-written voter education guides. They may invite candidates to participate in a forum during which candidates answer questions from a moderator, and candidates may be introduced in a church service and they may speak to the congregation as long as they do not ask the members to vote for them. A church may bus its members to the polls as long as they do not tell them how to vote.

Staver's Liberty Counsel website offers guidelines to the very different rights afforded pastors as individual citizens and their churches. According to the IRS, a pastor as an individual may endorse a political candidate, but he may not endorse a candidate on behalf of his congregation. He, as an individual, may contribute financially to a candidate or a political action committee. He, nor anyone else, may not write an editorial in the church newsletter endorsing a candidate. He may not, according to the IRS, endorse a candidate from the pulpit.

Each church, as a non-profit organization, must apply to the IRS for a letter that recognizes the church as a non-profit organization, and that contributions to the church are tax-deductible. Only one church has lost its IRS tax-exempt letter, "but even that church did not lose its tax-exempt status," according to Staver.

In 1992 a Binghamton, N.Y., church took out several full-page ads in USA Today and Washington Times newspapers opposing Bill Clinton's candidacy for president. The ads also asked for donations to help defray the cost of the advertisements. After a warning from the IRS that the church ignored, the IRS revoked the church's tax-exempt letter, but the church retained its tax-exempt status.

"... [T]he church can merely produce an affidavit by the pastor, or present the church bylaws or other evidence to validate that the assembly is a church. Other than mere convenience, there is no substantive difference, as a church, with or without a tax-exempt letter ruling, is still tax-exempt," Staver wrote.

"There is much more fear and myth than is warranted by the actual law," he said.

Considering the blatant actions of the New York church as a cautionary tale, congregations can feel free to lobby on issues if they avoid endorsing or opposing candidates for office. Churches should "absolutely have no concern about engaging in too much lobbying activity," Staver said.

A group of Christian organizations—Alliance Defense Fund, James Madison Center for Free Speech, Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America and Family Research Council—issued a letter to pastors in September 2007 in an attempt to assure pastors who may be intimidated by "those hostile to people of faith to chill their right of free speech and to silence them in their own churches." The group's eight-page document accuses the threatening groups of duplicity by accusing people of faith of forcing their religion on others when they speak about issues in public, and accusing them of engaging in politics when they speak of moral issues in church.

Although some may feel church meetings should be a respite from the political overload of an election year, Staver cautioned both pastors and church members against choosing not to get involved because they feel "it is political." Every pastor, Staver said, should show us "the responsibility we have as people who have been given talents by God."

"While liberal groups seek to silence pastors and churches, I would encourage pastors to throw off their muzzles and pick up a megaphone," Staver wrote. "It's time pastors and churches became the moral conscience of the community."